The Latest: Sheriff: No prior reports on vet home shooter

Updated 7:26 pm, Monday, March 12, 2018

California authorities say officers exchanged gunfire with a gunman holding three veterans program employees hostage at the largest veterans home in the U.S. (March 9)

Media: Associated Press

YOUNTVILLE, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on the triple killing at a California veterans home (all times local):

4:45 p.m.

A Northern California sheriff's office says it did not receive any reports of a troubled combat veteran from mental health professionals before he killed three of them at a veterans home.

Napa County Sheriff's Capt. Steve Blower said Monday that the law enforcement agency would be a point of contact for counselors at The Pathway Home if they were concerned a patient showed signs they were a danger to themselves or others.

A sheriff's deputy responded Friday morning to reports of shots fired by 36-year-old Albert Wong. The sheriff's office says a responding deputy exchanged gunfire before Wong retreated to a room and slammed shut the door.

No further shots were heard throughout a seven-hour siege police treated as a hostage situation.

A woman, who declined to give her name, cries after placing flowers at a sign at the Veterans Home of California, the morning after a hostage situation in Yountville, Calif., on Saturday, March 10, 2018. A daylong siege at The Pathway Home ended Friday evening with the discovery of four bodies, including the gunman, identified as Albert Wong, a former Army rifleman who served a year in Afghanistan in 2011-2012. less

A woman, who declined to give her name, cries after placing flowers at a sign at the Veterans Home of California, the morning after a hostage situation in Yountville, Calif., on Saturday, March 10, 2018. A ... more

Photo: Josh Edelson, AP

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This undated photo provided by Muir Wood Adolescent and Family Services shows The Pathway Home Clinical Director, Dr. Jennifer Golick, a victim of the veterans home shooting on Friday, March 9, 2018, in Yountville, Calif. Dr. Golick was killed by a former patient at The Pathway Home, a treatment program for veterans from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. (Muir Wood Adolescent and Family Services via AP) less

This undated photo provided by Muir Wood Adolescent and Family Services shows The Pathway Home Clinical Director, Dr. Jennifer Golick, a victim of the veterans home shooting on Friday, March 9, 2018, in ... more

Photo: Uncredited, AP

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This September 2012 photo provided by Tom Turner shows Christine Loeber, a victim of the veterans home shooting on Friday, March 9, 2018, in Yountville, Calif. Loeber was executive director of the Pathway Home, a treatment program for veterans from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. (Tom Turner via AP) less

This September 2012 photo provided by Tom Turner shows Christine Loeber, a victim of the veterans home shooting on Friday, March 9, 2018, in Yountville, Calif. Loeber was executive director of the Pathway Home, ... more

Photo: Tom Turner, AP

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This undated photo provided by PsychArmor Institute shows clinical psychologist Jennifer Gonzales, a victim of the veterans home shooting on Friday, March 9, 2018, in Yountville, Calif. Gonzales was killed by a former patient at Pathway Home, a treatment program for veterans from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Marjorie Morrison, the founder of a nonprofit organization known as PsychArmor, says Gonzales was "brilliant" and did amazing work with veterans with PTSD. (PsychArmor Institute via AP) less

This undated photo provided by PsychArmor Institute shows clinical psychologist Jennifer Gonzales, a victim of the veterans home shooting on Friday, March 9, 2018, in Yountville, Calif. Gonzales was killed by a ... more

Photo: Uncredited, AP

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The Latest: Sheriff: No prior reports on vet home shooter

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Blower says it's now apparent the victims were shot shortly after they were taken because no other shots were heard.

The bodies of the three women and Wong were found about 6 p.m.

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This item has been corrected to say that the deputy was initially responding to a report of shots fired, not hostages taken.

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12:10 p.m.

A California agency says the former Army rifleman who killed three mental health workers at a California veterans home where he once received treatment lost his state licenses to be an armed security guard for failing to pay the fees.

California's Bureau of Security and Investigative Services said Monday that 36-year-old Albert Wong received permits to carry a 9-millimeter gun and to be a security guard on Oct. 21, 2008.

Bureau spokesman Matt Woodcheke said Wong lost his licenses after failing to pay the annual fees.

The bureau's license database lists Wong's two permits as expired on Oct. 31. It's unclear if that's the date when the bureau canceled the permits for nonpayment.

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12:01 a.m.

Authorities have so far been tight-lipped about why a former Army rifleman might have killed three women at a Northern California veterans home.

Albert Wong had been enrolled in the veteran treatment program at The Pathway Home after several years of struggling following his deployment in Afghanistan.

The 36-year-old was recently expelled from Pathway Home, but authorities have not said why.

Officials did not return repeated messages from The Associated Press on Sunday and they have not answered questions about whether concerns about Wong were reported to authorities.

Police said Wong went Friday to the veterans home in Yountville, about 50 miles north of San Francisco, and slipped into a going-away party for two employees.